I’m going to roll 2 months in to one update mostly because October has been a total right off. I’ve spent a hell of a lot of time down on the boat over the last month but alas no fishing, more on that later but I suppose it’s best to start at the beginning, or as close to the beginning of September that I got.
The fishing in September actually started on the 15th, the never ending north westerly winds up to then put the kaibosh on every best made plan. With the wind due to drop we headed out in to a westerly 4-5 to try and get a mate his first Conger and Ling. The tide was a bit bigger than I’d like and the sea a lot worse than you’d ideally want for anchoring a wreck but anchor a wreck we did. The 9 mile steam was a bit rocky and it meant travelling at that horrible in-between speed that all outboards (and wallets) hate. Still at least it was side on so reasonably comfy. With Mackerel not hard to find (if tiny in size) we were soon anchored up ready for the 2 and half/3 hours over the high water. I opted for a pirk and large single hook whilst Matt went for the traditional heavy running ledger rig fished on the bottom. The first bites only took minutes and Matt was soon bringing up a fish…a bloody Doggy! I’d never even seen a Doogy caught on this wreck before, not one, but over the next hour Matt brought up a whole collection, either Doggy or missed bites. Around the beginning of the slack my pirk (about a foot of the bottom) started to get some attention and with that up came the first Ling, nothing massive but I suppose approaching double figures. It was at that point that we started swinging around and pulled the anchor, that meant re-anchoring (bullseye on the wreck) and the last I’d ever see of that grappling hook! All worth it though as just as we were getting ready to head home Matt managed to bring up his first ever Ling, again not massive but a Ling all the same and a species to cross of the lift. The Congers for the first time ever on that wreck weren’t playing ball but that will wait for another day. The trip home was another bouncy ride, the wind that was given to drop didn’t, instead heading north and increasing giving us a lot to plough in to and doing the engine no favours. With no shelter at all giving it a blast closer to home wasn’t an option. I could see problems ahead.
The next trip on the 18th was a simple mission to pull up a few Callig for the table. As always that didn’t take long although whilst waiting for a new anchor it meant doing a lot more drifting than I prefer. With strong south west winds I headed close in behind the hill in the hope of picking up a Cod as well but no joy. That’s 3 years in a row now that the Cod have been few and far between. It was also a chance to try my new collection of vertical jigs to see how they compared to my usual soft plastics, there’s a couple of videos on that! The forecast for the next day was perfect, easterly 3 or less, possibly going south east later on. Having been deprived of some decent weather I took the decision to head all the way up to the point and look for some monster Bass. I was really looking forward to it, even more so as I could travel at good speed in flat seas but even so it was still a 40 minute run. No sooner was I there than the “promised” easterly wind started to swing west and the then south west. Building from nothing to a solid 4-5. Shiiiiiit. I tried fishing for half an hour but with the sea just building and building I decided to get closer to home, I was stuck at displacement speed and it took me over an hour to get anywhere close to where I could fish another mark, I was determined to rescue something from the day. A quick 10 minute Callig session at least got something for the table. I was now stuck in a catch 22 though, I could either head home slow, as I was before but likely miss the flap gate and mean leaving the boat on the breakwater among all the larger commercial boats. OR I could take the chance and travel at reasonable speed and just take the battering. Fearing the potential damage from being left exposed on the breakwater I chose the second option. By the time I got home the engine was had developed a slight stutter, a plastic bracket had broken and my back was in agony. Massive round of applause to the weather team down at Ronaldsway. I was seriously pissed.
The last 2 trips of the month were supposed to be flatty hunts. The first off Dalby was looking for the elusive Manx Turbot but resulted in nothing but endless Doggies. Doggy after Doggy after Doggy. All in a decent swell and again not what was forecast. The engine was running fine except for that same slight stutter on acceleration.
The final session was a Plaice tip off although to be fair I was more interested in just doing a little test on the engine. Our Plaice season is really around July and August but I figured it was worth a go. With new plugs in the engine I gave it a proper blast in the hope that any stuttering was solved, it wasn’t. The fishing resulted in loads of Dogfish again as well as some really nice Mackerel, in fact the Mackerel fishing was so good the Plaice got forgotten about. I came home slowly and promised not to head out again until I had run a full set of diagnostics.
And that was October. The slow running, big bangs, endless incorrect weather forecasts and my eagerness to get out caused a few technical problems. I’ve replaced the entire fuel system, new battery, cleaned all connections but most importantly I decarbed the engine. Now when I bought the engine new and had it set to an oil mode that costs £65 a gallon I was told it was the cleanest outboard on the planet and there would be no need for this nonsense. WRONG! Perhaps this is true of an American lake where you can run at WOT at will but absolutely not true of our lovely bumpy Irish sea. Anyway after much expense and much playing I’ve completed a few test runs and I am 100% ready for action should we get another couple of nice days before I retire it for the winter. It passed everything I could throw it at with flying colours, just needed decarbing. That’s something for me to add to the service schedule.
Overall then it’s been a quiet couple of months with the most notable thing being the amount of Dogfish being found when any bait is fished on the bottom. I’m not exactly a Doggy fan. The Callig (Pollack) have been around in big numbers and good fish as well, a nice 3-4lb average. But no Cod and the Bass have started heading south, I know a few have been caught around the beach at Peel. I couldn’t get a bite up the point.